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Knowledge is Power - Share the Power

1914

(1991) Gorbachev steps down as Soviet presidentMikhail Gorbachev announces he’s resigning as Soviet leader. For the most part, the country had ceased to exist a few days prior when 11 of the 12 former Soviet republics formed an independent alliance. Still, Gorbachev’s speech hammers the final nails in the USSR’s coffin.Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a Russian and formerly Soviet politician. He was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having been General Secretary of the governing Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. He was the country’s head of state from 1988 until 1991, serving as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990, and President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Ideologically a socialist, he initially adhered to Marxism-Leninism although following the Soviet collapse moved toward social democracy.

1953: Mikhail Gorbachev married Raisa Gorbacheva on September 25, 1953; their marriage lasted 46 years till September 20, 1999.

1983: In April 1983, Gorbachev delivered the annual Lenin’s birthday speech; this required him re-reading many of Lenin’s later writings, in which the first Soviet leader had called for reform, and encouraged Gorbachev’s own conviction that reform was needed.

1985: Within three years of the death of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, following the brief “interregna” of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, Gorbachev was elected general secretary by the Politburo in 1985.

1986: Gorbachev initiated his new policy of perestroika (literally “restructuring” in Russian) and its attendant radical reforms in 1986; they were sketched, but not fully spelled out, at the XXVIIth Party Congress in February–March 1986.

1987: Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World written by Mikhail Gorbachev was first published on November 01, 1987.

1990: On 15 March 1990, Gorbachev was elected as the first executive President of the Soviet Union with 59% of the Deputies’ votes.

President George H. W. Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev sign United States/Soviet Union agreements to end chemical weapon production and begin destroying their respective stocks in the East Room of the White House, Washington, DC on the 1st of June 1990.wiki/Mikhail_Gorbachev4.16.n18

(1991) Gorbachev steps down as Soviet president.Also on this day,

336 | Earliest documented celebration of Christmas

“25 Dec.: natus Christus in Betleem Judeae.” Translation: “December 25, Christ born in Bethlehem, Judea.” This inscription will be found in an ancient list of Roman bishops and is the earliest recorded proof of a celebration of Christmas. The inaugural celebration takes place in Rome.

After a week of an unofficial cease-fire, German soldiers in WWI emerge from trenches and walk toward the British line, calling out “Merry Christmas.” Once the Brits determine it’s not a trick, they climb out to greet their enemies. Men shake hands, exchange cigarettes, and even bury the dead.

During ‘The Kraft Music Hall’ broadcast on NBC radio, Bing Crosby sings a new composition by songwriter Irving Berlin. Crosby will record ‘White Christmas’ the following year for the film ‘Holiday Inn’ and again in 1947. Crosby’s ’47 recording of the secular holiday tune will sell more than 50 million copies, and earn all-time best-selling single status.

(1914) Enemies exchange Christmas greetings at frontAfter a week of an unofficial cease-fire, German soldiers in WWI emerge from trenches and walk toward the British line, calling out "Merry Christmas." Once the Brits determine it's not a trick, they climb out to greet their enemies. Men shake hands, exchange cigarettes, and even bury the dead.

The Christmas truce (German: Weihnachtsfrieden; French: Trêve de Noël) was a series of widespread but unofficial ceasefires along the Western Front of World War I around Christmas 1914.

The Christmas truce occurred during the relatively early period of the war (month 5 of 51). Hostilities had entered somewhat of a lull as leadership on both sides reconsidered their strategies following the stalemate of the Race to the Sea and the indecisive result of the First Battle of Ypres. In the week leading up to the 25th, French, German, and British soldiers crossed trenches to exchange seasonal greetings and talk. In some areas, men from both sides ventured into no man's land on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to mingle and exchange food and souvenirs. There were joint burial ceremonies and prisoner swaps, while several meetings ended in carol-singing. Men played games of football (soccer) with one another, giving one of the most memorable images of the truce. Peaceful behavior was not ubiquitous; fighting continued in some sectors, while in others the sides settled on little more than arrangements to recover bodies.

The following year, a few units arranged ceasefires but the truces were not nearly as widespread as in 1914; this was, in part, due to strongly worded orders from the high commands of both sides prohibiting fraternisation. Soldiers were no longer amenable to truce by 1916. The war had become increasingly bitter after devastating human losses suffered during the battles of the Somme and Verdun, and the use of poison gas.

The truces were not unique to the Christmas period, and reflected a growing mood of "live and let live", where infantry close together would stop overtly aggressive behavior and often engage in small-scale fraternisation, engaging in conversation or bartering for cigarettes. In some sectors, there would be occasional ceasefires to allow soldiers to go between the lines and recover wounded or dead comrades, while in others, there would be a tacit agreement not to shoot while men rested, exercised or worked in full view of the enemy. The Christmas truces were particularly significant due to the number of men involved and the level of their participation—even in very peaceful sectors, dozens of men openly congregating in daylight was remarkable—and are often seen as a symbolic moment of peace and humanity amidst one of the most violent events of human history.

An artist's impression from The Illustrated London News of 9 January 1915: "British and German Soldiers Arm-in-Arm Exchanging Headgear: A Christmas Truce between Opposing Trenches"

(1793) After the revolution a bloody power struggle takes its tollIn France, a Committee of Public Safety is set up to deal with government enemies in the wake of the monarchy’s overthrow. But safety will not be maintained as in-fighting reaches epic proportions, leaving tens of thousands dead, many by the “National Razor” (guillotine), during the 11-month Reign of Terror.The Reign of Terror, or The Terror, is the label given by most historians to a period during the French Revolution after the First French Republic was established. Several historians consider the “reign of terror” to have begun in 1793, placing the starting date at either 5 September, June or March, while some consider it to have begun in September 1792, or even July 1789, but there is a consensus that it ended with the fall of Maximilien Robespierre in July 1794.

(1793) After the revolution a bloody power struggle takes its toll.Also on this day,

1914 | Military might turns the tide on the Marne

World War I’s Allied forces take the upper hand for the first time as more than a million French and British soldiers begin to drive back hundreds of thousands of German fighters advancing on Paris at the First Battle of the Marne. The three-day clash will see roughly 500,000 killed or wounded.

1957 | Sal and Dean hit the road in a bold Beat manifesto as ‘On the Road’ published

Reading more like a prose poem than a novel, the 320-page semiautobiographical work published today journeys across sunbaked tarmacs to define the ethos of the Beat Generation. The rambling, stream-of-consciousness travelogue, ‘On the Road,’ will also launch author Jack Kerouac into the literary stratosphere.

Munich’s Olympic Games are plunged into panic after Palestinian terrorists storm the Olympic Village rooms housing Israeli athletes and staff, killing two, and taking dozens hostage. A rescue attempt by German authorities at the Munich airport will be botched, resulting in the deaths of nine Israelis, five terrorists, and a West German police officer.

(1914) Military might turns the tide on the MarneWorld War I's Allied forces take the upper hand for the first time as more than a million French and British soldiers begin to drive back hundreds of thousands of German fighters advancing on Paris at the First Battle of the Marne. The three-day clash will see roughly 500,000 killed or wounded.The Battle of the Marne was a World War I battle fought from 6–10 September 1914. It resulted in an Allied victory against the German armies in the west. The battle was the culmination of the German advance into France and pursuit of the Allied armies which followed the Battle of the Frontiers in August and had reached the eastern outskirts of Paris. A counter-attack by six French armies and the British Expeditionary Force along the Marne River forced the Imperial German Army to retreat north-west, leading to the First Battle of the Aisne and the Race to the Sea. The battle was a victory for the Allies but led to four years of trench warfare stalemate on the Western Front.

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